Arch of Triumph (1948 film)

This article is about the 1948 film. For other uses, see Arch of Triumph (disambiguation).

Arch of Triumph
Film poster
Directed by	Lewis Milestone
Produced by	David Lewis
Written by	Lewis Milestone Harry Brown
Based on	Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque
Starring	Ingrid Bergman Charles Boyer Charles Laughton
Music by	Louis Gruenberg
Cinematography	Russell Metty
Edited by	Duncan Mansfield
Production company	Enterprise Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	March 1948
Running time	120 minutes 133 minutes (restored version)
Country	United States
Language	English German
Budget	USD 5,000,000

Arch of Triumph is a 1948 American war romance film starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer and Charles Laughton. It was directed by Lewis Milestone and is based on the 1945 novel Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque, which he wrote during his nine-year exile in the United States.

Synopsis

Pre-World War II Paris is crowded with illegal refugees, trying to evade deportation. One of them is Dr. Ravic (Charles Boyer), who under a false name practices medicine illegally, helping other refugees. He saves Joan Madou (Ingrid Bergman) from committing suicide after the sudden death of her lover. They become involved, but he is deported and she becomes the mistress of a wealthy man, Alex (Stephen Bekassy). All this time Ravic seeks revenge against the Nazi officer Haake (Charles Laughton), with war eventually declared between France and Germany.

Cast

• Ingrid Bergman — Joan Madou
• Charles Boyer — Dr. Ravic
• Charles Laughton — von Haake
• Louis Calhern — Boris Morosov
• Ruth Warrick - Kate Bergstroem
• Roman Bohnen — Dr. Veber
• J. Edward Bromberg — Hotel manager at the Verdun
• Ruth Nelson — Madame Fessier
• Stephen Bekassy — Alex
• Curt Bois — Tattooed waiter
• Art Smith — Inspector
• Michael Romanoff — Capt. Alidze

Background and production

The film's name is a reference to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where the film is set. The rough cut of the film was four hours long, and in reducing it to two hours several actors were cut. Irwin Shaw spent five months writing the screenplay, but quit when Lewis Milestone wanted him to add a love story. Milestone then rewrote the script himself together with Harry Brown. Ingrid Bergman's salary for the part was $175,000 + 25% of net profits.

William Conrad, in just his fourth film, has a small important (uncredited) role, as a policeman.

The MPAA's head of the Production Code Administration at the time, Joseph Breen, made the film's studio tone down the violence in the script. The scene where Ravic kills Haake also included him stuffing Haake in the car's trunk, stripping him naked, burying him and burning his clothes — this was cut from the film. Breen also objected to the murder going unpunished, but relented.

The film was remade as a made-for-television film, Arch of Triumph, in 1985 with Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Ravic.

See also

• Production Code

External links

• Arch of Triumph at IMDb
• Arch of Triumph at AllMovie
• Arch of Triumph at the TCM Movie Database